


Innocence

by TonyPie17



Series: Rose of Every Colour [11]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Flower Language, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Knowledgeable and cute Ori, M/M, Nonchalant Bilbo, irrate Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 10:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3973981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TonyPie17/pseuds/TonyPie17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are more than a single type of innocence, and the Dwarrow who receives the rose of this meaning is innocent in several ways...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Innocence

**Author's Note:**

> So in the book, Ori is technically older than Fili and Kili, but for this we're just gonna put him between Fili and Kili.

It wasn’t so much innocence that Ori embodied in Bilbo’s mind as it was the pureness of heart. Ori was not the youngest of the Company. He had seen more than most of the others gave him credit for, but Ori held fast in his mind to the notion of the good in all (except possibly vegetables and definitely Orcs). Even in Rivendell and Mirkwood, he had believed more than most of the other members of the company that the Elves did not truly wish them harm.

When Bilbo asked Ori about this Ori explained it as simply as possibly.

“All the creatures of the world are not born with evil in their hearts,” he said, “Evil must be taught for it to take hold in the minds of the young.”

Bilbo did not entirely agree with the idea, but he could understand it and so figured that Ori could be on to something. In a way, the scholar was right; every being was not born corrupt. Corruption came over time, from circumstances that forced them into choosing if they would rather be pure of heart or evil of mind.

“That’s a rather interesting line of thought,” Bilbo commented. He pulled another book down from the library shelves, and read the title (entirely in Khuzdul) to himself. He placed it on the pile to be translated and re-shelved. His mind wandered back to what his friend had said, however.

“What did you make of the Goldsickness within the line of Durin?” he asked now. That was one topic almost everyone in the original Company tended to stay away from. It had been a dark time in the beginning of Erebor’s restoration days, when it was assumed that Thorin would fall back into the sickness and be lost forever.

Ori paused in the re-shelving of returned books to think about how he wanted to answer. After a long moment, just when Bilbo was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn’t have asked such a question, Ori continued putting the books away and spoke.

“The Goldsickness was… a horrible affliction. It was just that, an ailment, forced upon the line when the Arkenstone was found,” he started. “There was only one cure, but Thror was too far gone for it to work, and Thrain had lost his chance at it as well.”

Bilbo, who had pulled down several more books himself, stopped in his reaching to turn and look at Ori, who was moving along as if he hadn’t just said something that confused the Hobbit. Just as he was prepared to ask exactly what it was Ori meant, the doors to the library burst open and in rushed Bofur and Fili, looking anxious and as if they had caused quite a bit of trouble.

“What have the two of you done now,” Bilbo frowned.

“Well, uh, you see, Bilbo,” Bofur stuttered, before he looked to Fili, who cleared his throat.

“There may or may not have been… something of an… accident?” Fili finished.

That was never good. His Dwarves had absolutely no idea how to stay out of trouble anymore. Bilbo looked at Ori, who seemed just as concerned.

“Let’s meet again for tea, hm? I’ll look into whatever this is,” he smiled. “Meet me in the garden at tea time.”

Ori nodded, throwing his own soft smile Bilbo’s way before Bilbo hurried out of the library behind Bofur and Fili, who were both talking a mile a minute. Bilbo caught bits and pieces of what they were saying, but the long and short of it seemed to be that Kili had been trying to help Fili in the garden and Bofur had come in with Nori to look at the rose bush Nori tended. By accident Bofur bumped into Fili who bumped into Kili, causing Kili to fall and cut himself on one of the few actually poisonous plants in Bilbo’s garden, and now Kili was sick and the only person who knew what to do was Bilbo.

 _Of course something like this would eventually happen,_ Bilbo thought to himself as he looked Kili over, _Because why wouldn’t it?_

[][][][][]

Unfortunately, when Kili cut himself in his fall he’d landed partially on one of Bilbo’s other rose bushes. The bush was partially squashed now, the few roses that had been in bloom wilting. After Bilbo had ensured that Kili would be alright, and giving the Dwarrow Prince some medicine and bandages for his wound, he went about tending to the bush itself. It was around this time that Ori came into the Greenhouse for tea.

“Oh dear,” Ori looked over the bush Bilbo was busy pruning and watering, snipping rose stems close to the root to help heal. “That looks very bad.”

“Not nearly so,” Bilbo replied. “It could be much worse.”

“Could it really?” Ori didn’t believe so. The bush looked absolutely tragic.

“It’ll grow again. Stronger the next time,” Bilbo was sure of it. The bush of bright orange roses was one of the most stubborn in the entire bed. Bilbo knew it would be fine.

“If you say so,” Ori managed to smile. He took a seat on the bench, pulling out the book of Khuzdul phrases and grammar Bilbo had been learning.

“ _Do you want to start another lesson today?_ ” Ori asked in Khuzdul.

“ _Yes. But after lunch preferably. I’d like for Balin to be here as well,_ ” Bilbo replied, his pronunciation much better than when they’d started a year prior. “Instead I’d like to ask about that cure you mentioned for the Goldsickness.”

Ori stopped briefly to try to remember what it was Bilbo meant. He thought for a bit before it came to him that Bilbo was talking about their conversation from earlier. His smile turned confused then.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he questioned, feeling that it should have been.

Bilbo wondered if it was, and that he should have felt silly for even asking when Ori continued, “The cure is love!”

That definitely startled Bilbo. His entire being froze at the declaration. The way Ori sounded so sure of himself―the way he said the words with confidence, it reminded Bilbo that Ori was still young, and innocent in a way that wasn’t simply his pureness of heart. It was this declaration that made Bilbo look across his rose beds to a bush of green and white.

“You believe it was love?” Bilbo asked as he moved over to the bush.

“Yes. Fili and Kili never fell to the Goldsickness because you were always watching over them,” Ori continued. He nodded resolutely. “And Thorin broke from his sickness when you showed him how much you cared by telling him right off.”

Bilbo didn’t know if he entirely agreed with that, but it was what Ori firmly believed, and so he would not try to change the young Dwarrow’s mind about it. He snipped two of the white roses from the bush he had come to and then brought them over. He held one out to Ori, who blinked in surprise at being offered such a simple flower.

“What’s this for?” he inquired, staring at the rose skeptically.

“Not for eating if that’s what you’re thinking,” Bilbo chuckled. He gestured for Ori to take it, and the scholar took the rose into his hands.

“You’ve a very pure mind, and an even purer heart, my dear friend.” Bilbo walked towards the door that led into his smial, and Ori, who was even more surprised by the words, followed.

“Do you think so?”

Bilbo laughed as he placed the second white rose into the flower vase with the others.

“I know so.”

[][][][][]

“And another thing,” Thorin was ranting, upset that Kili was injured and sick (even though he wasn’t really sick anymore, Bilbo had taken care of that), “Why do you even grow _poisonous_ plants in that garden anyway?”

Bilbo was taking it all in stride. He was so use to Thorin’s ranting moods that it really no longer affected him. He had stood up to the Dwarf King on more than a single occasion; his upset ramblings could no longer phase Bilbo as they had all those years ago on the Quest.

“They’re for remedies, Thorin, and if you paid attention you’d understand that I’ve explained this to you before,” Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“What remedies require―” Thorin’s ranting was abruptly cut off when he caught sight of the beautiful white rose within the vase of roses. He looked at Bilbo.

“That’s certainly not one I’d expected to see with the others,” he stated. Bilbo rose an eyebrow.

“You know what it means?” the Hobbit hummed.

“Innocence, correct? I do not think any in the company are _innocent_.” Thorin snorted. He looked back at the vase, though.

“I can think of two, who are innocent in ways that are not at first perceived,” Bilbo smiled. Thorin highly doubted that. He took one last look at the white flower before he turned back to Bilbo, his irritation from earlier returning.

“You haven’t answered my question!”

Bilbo felt his ire finally begin to rise at that.

“I _did_ you insufferable Dwarf!”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is dwindling down to the last few, guys. We're pretty much at the very last three now, which are Thorin, Kili, and Bofur.
> 
> Me oh my.


End file.
